HYDERABAD: Measures taken by the State government for women’s safety seem to have yielded fruit as crime against women decreased by 8.5 per cent in Telangana in 2018. While 17,521 cases were registered in 2017, 16,027 cases were registered in 2018 involving about 16,198 victims.
Of the total of 6,286 cases, 34.2 per cent are of cruelty by husband or his relatives, constituting a major portion of the crime against women in the State. Overall, 24,996 cases of crime against women, including the cases from the previous years, are under investigation.
Meanwhile, the conviction rate in the cases of crime against women is only 10.9 per cent, as 7,825 persons involved in these cases were set free by courts, while 41.8 per cent of cases are pending, which is higher than the national average of 33.6 per cent.
At the national level, 606 rape cases were reported. While 465 victims are in the age group of 18-30 years, 123 are between 30-45 years, 17 in the age group of 45-60 and one rape victim is above 60 years of age.
The disturbing factor in all the cases is that 98.8 per cent of the rape victims knew their predators. Of the 606 rape cases, 84 offenders are from within the family, while 246 offenders are from distant family members, neighbours or their employers.
In 269 cases, the offenders are live-in partners. Only seven offenders are strangers to the victims. The year 2018 witnessed 2,165 cases of kidnap of women for various reasons, including ransom and for marriage by force.
A total of 445 cases of women who were forced to commit suicide were reported, while 186 cases of death due to dowry harassment were reported in the State. Overall, 878 cases of various kinds of insult to the modesty of women were registered in 2018.
Further, in cases of crime against women, 13,568 persons were arrested and 20,819 persons charge-sheeted, of which only 834 persons were convicted while 7,825 persons were acquitted by the courts. A whopping 18,641 cases have been pending trial from 2017, while 4,646 cases were sent for trial in 2018.